Ronaldo isn't stupid, he wants Lewandowski because he's the world's best – Elber

Real Madrid are being heavily linked with a record-breaking striker at Bayern Munich, with that interest coming as no surprise to a former frontman

Robert Lewandowski is the best striker in the world, says Bayern Munich legend Giovane Elber, with interest from Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo coming as no surprise.

The prolific Poland international is once again sparking transfer talk ahead of the summer window , with his future being called into question on a regular basis.

Lewandowski’s remarkable return in Germany, spread across spells at Borussia Dortmund and the Allianz Arena, has seen him identified as a possible ‘Galactico’ at Santiago Bernabeu.

Article continues below

Editors' Picks

Juve on alert: Exiled Icardi may have already played his final game for Inter Sarri vindicated for dropping Kepa as Chelsea & Pedro impress in Spurs win Magnificent Mane takes centre stage as league leaders Liverpool put on a five-star show Lukaku sends reminder that his Man Utd career is far from over

Elber, who has lost his record as Bayern’s highest-scoring foreign star to the 29-year-old , believes such talk is an obvious consequence of having one of the finest forwards on the planet on your books.

The former Brazil international told AZ on the Real rumours, with Portuguese superstar Ronaldo reported to be backing an approach: “This shows that Cristiano Ronaldo is not stupid. 

“Everyone wants to have such a player in their team. If they have the opportunity to get Lewandowski away from Bayern, they will do their best to do it. 

“But Bayern have been warned and Lewandowski feels very settled with his family in Munich. He knows that he has everything at Bayern. I hope and expect that he stays with us for a long time.”

Elber added on Lewandowski, who now has 142 Bayern goals to his name: “He has incredible skills and he shows them in every game. 

“You could say that it’s easy to score goals at Bayern, because the other teams are not good enough, but you still have to deliver. He does that, and also in the Champions League. 

“He is currently the best centre-forward in the world.

“He is the whole package. He is as good with his left and right as anybody else and while not a specialist in the air, he still gets plenty of headed goals. 

“He has everything. It is difficult to say what weakness he has and what he still needs to improve.”

Lewandowski netted a hat-trick in his last outing for Bayern, in a 6-0 mauling of Hamburg, and has now plundered 37 goals in just 39 appearances for club and country this season.